Writer's Bullocks

Friday, July 26, 2013

I am not able to conjure up new posts at my will these days. It has become difficult to write humor and satire amid so much death, destruction, and depravity. It stresses me out when I can’t write. When I told all this to a friend, she opined that I must be having writer’s bullock. Initially, I did not understand her, but when I contemplated on it later, the picture became clear. Writers should have unicorns, flying horses, birds-of-paradise, butterflies, and so on. Bullocks are for farmers and village people. When a writer has bullocks, he or she cannot write.

In my imagination I saw two bullocks and they were not allowing me to write. They had a cartload of books, and implied that until I read all those books, they were not going to leave me. I considered it a pleasant break from the nerve-racking 24-hour news grind, which is then magnified by bloggers, and then further bombarded by Facebook and Twitter friends.

Writer's Bullocks
After going through a couple of lovely novels, I picked up The Last Mughal by William Dalrymple. It was an action-packed thriller with first-hand reports and direct quotes from the people who had witnessed and participated in the 1857 revolt and its suppression. And when I finished reading the book, I was exhausted and depressed by the exploits of the sepoys and the British soldiers. The book presented horrifying accounts of killings by swords, guns, and hangings. At the end, the whole city of Delhi was destroyed; its streets awash with blood, and piled with dead bodies, all the inhabitants either dead or ousted. Many more starved and died in the wilderness outside the city wall.

The City of Delhi, 1857 (via britishempire.co.uk)

This was far far worse than any recent tragedy. The book has left me very sad and dejected, giving me nightmares. I have now decided to pick up a lighter book.

I suppose, until I don’t read all the books in the cart, the bullocks are not going to leave me. Hence in the coming days, I will be less active in the blogosphere.

27 comments:

  1. I wish you happy reading with lots of fun and serious books! It is definitely the most enjoyable pursuit, and I too should indulge in that more often!

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  2. Take care and have fun reading all those books!

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  3. May you successfully unload the beasts of burden and have fun reading all the books!

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  4. Those bullocks sure looks like they are very determined in what they think :( so you better listen to them and read those books...so though I will miss your posts...don't take chance with them..:D :D... nice pic that one is :)

    Happy reading :)

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    1. Thanks SuKu! I wish I were as determined as these bullocks :-|

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  5. Can't afford my favourite writer to be harassed by these bullocks . Happy reading and writing too :)

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  6. I wish your friend had referred to Writer's Block

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    1. Hmmm...maybe you are right! I will check with my friend. Thanks :-|

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  7. Well, as long as you keep giving us all an occasional heads up as you go through the bullocks pile, and be witty and satirical whenever you do so, you (and we) will be happy!

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    1. Thanks Rickie! I will surely try to write when the bullocks go grazing :-|

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  8. You gotta do what you gotta do to keep those bullocks away! :D

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  9. I can guarantee you don't have any block. ;-) the idea, thought and word flow effortlessly. At least that is how I feel when I read your posts. Love the drawing/photoshop/ morph whatever it is called.
    Agree with you about over dose of News from all quarters.
    Write about your surroundings, what is going on around ( my two cents toward the advice coming your way).
    Love to read what you write.

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    1. Thanks Madhu di for the kind words! I will try to do my best :-)

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  10. Now that you've unclogged the drains of your mind and transferred your misery on your hapless readers , be prepared for the free flow of thoughts.

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    1. Thanks Purba! Will wait for your prophecy to come true :-|

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  11. Now me, I have just finished with my own personal bugbear - the IT return :) so,my bullocks have cleared the way and I hope yours will soon too :)

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    1. May your IT return grow every year, so much so that you have to hire a professional!

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  12. I am indeed very lucky. I always have unicorns, flying horses, birds-of-paradise, butterflies. red army ants, porkypines, cats, squirrels etc...

    I never have bullocks and thus, I have to hold myself back or I would post daily. Right now I'm 4 posts ahead.

    Please check out the greatest blog ever: http://agent54nsa.blogspot.com/

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  13. Plesse read those books quickly and shoo those bullocks away.
    Trivia - I wrongly read the title of your post as Writer's bollocks.

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    1. Thanks Amit! As for Writer's bollocks, I would never make fun of fellow writers :-|

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